The present invention relates to bathroom towel warmers and more particularly to improved towel warmer configurations intended for installation in close proximity to a bathtub or shower enclosure to assure their accessibility to the user.
As pointed out in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,046,436 and 6,525,298, whose patentee is the same as the applicant of the present application, the feel of a warm towel against the skin immediately after a shower or bath is a delight, but experience has shown that the pleasure diminishes rapidly as the distance from the tub or shower to the towel warmer increases. To be commercially viable, a towel warmer must be esthetically pleasing, space economical, and easily accessible within close reach of the tub or shower.
A difficulty in acceptance arises because a large portion of already existing bathrooms were built with a priority given to space efficiency, they are dimensionally small with restricted ability to add additional cabinetry. Further complicating the marketplace, cabinetry manufacture for installation in current housing construction is done to standard dimensions on large volume production lines, new devices are adapted only when they fit these standard dimensions. These preexisting conditions and limitations invoke the necessity that a multiplicity of physical configurations and possible installation options become available if full immersion towel warmers are to be widely utilized. Of particular interest is the typical five inch vertical opening dimension of the top drawer of a vanity.
It is applicants desire to provide prospective users with a choice of compact, esthetically attractive warming devices for installation in a bath or shower area, any one of which is equally capable of achieving rapid, uniform heating of articles such as clothing or towels and the like as a preliminary to use. In order to be as unobtrusive and aesthetically pleasing as possible it is preferable to minimize the degree to which the towel warmer protrudes into the room. In some bathroom remodeling and new construction it may be preferable to embed a permanent towel warmer between the wall studs. In all instances the selected towel warmer must be capable of heating or warming uniformly through multiple layers of plush towels within a short period of time, namely within the few minutes required to take a bath or shower.